A trip to the past
by Nephiliara
Summary: Boston, another night trip, another patrol - but not this time. Lucan, Tegan and Dante find a heavily injured Breedmate while being on their usual route, who obviously belongs to the MI6 - not really the right country...
1. An unexspected meeting

A trip to the past

An unexpected meeting

Another night, another patrol, another blood-filled darkness.

It was already everyday business for the Order, but still there were some things they would never get used to.

For example the police interfering.

Lucan swore under his breath when he saw two 5 men squads approaching the empty warehouse – or, well, the not-so-empty warehouse. Rogue quartier.

"Better get them away before the bastards start tearing them to pieces.", Dante said grimly, grasping his Malebranche blades.

"They are too fast.", Tegan objected.

And yes, irritatingly, they were.

"That is not a normal police patrol.", Lucan said slowly, frowning.

Too fast, too disciplined. He searched the rooftops. – And cursed more, tugging his radio.

"Gideon, why didn't you warn us about the storm troops here?"

"'Storm troops', eh? Watched too much 'Star Wars' recently, Lucan? No such thing here on police radio!"

"Well, we have 4 bloody snipers and two operating squads here, plus two or three captains on the roofs!"

A loud BANG! cut him off – the squads had broken the doors – and hell broke loose.

Suddenly the silence was gone, shots blasting, feet pattering over the tarmac, barked orders – and suddenly – snipers down.

One after one, quick.

A shadow, somebody making a quick dash, a black blur in the night.

"Get going!", Lucan barked and the others didn't hesitate to follow him, as he ran into the warehouse.

God damn, it was a battlefield already and the humans weren't put up for a fight with those degenerated creatures – well, damn, how could they?

Still: Twenty Rogues against three warriors, two of them Gen Ones, were nothing – but the death of over ten men. – And one woman.

Lucan recognized her as one of the captains formerly standing on the rooftops. Obviously she had run in to help.

Brave. Loyal. He could not even say 'foolish' – how should she have known what she was getting herself into? – But deadly of course.

He was already half way through the hall again, when a whimper let him stop dead in his tracks.

What?

He turned and looked around, sniffing in the blood-filled air – there was a strange scent. Not the iron hemoglobin – fuck. The smell of something sweet, black tea with milk, mixed with blood.

He ran back, shoving away corpses to get to the whimper and the source of the scent.

"Lucan?", Dante asked puzzled.

But he didn't answer, kneeling down next to the woman, who was coughing, bleeding, clutching her left arm, trying to cover a huge bite mark, trying to hold her ribs together at the same time.

The scent said it all.

Breedmate.

"Get the car and quick! We need Gideon and Tess for her!", he yelled, as he picked her up carefully.

Tegan only needed a short sniff when Lucan came near him with the young woman.

"Fuck, Breedmate…!"

"Yes, and she's dying. We need to hurry, or –"

"Run…"

A weak whisper interrupted him.

"What?"

"Run… There are… Explosives… You need to… Run…", the woman in Lucan's arms murmured weakly, but still urgently.

Lucan decided to not question her and just take her word as the truth. – Luckily Dante and Tegan agreed on that without a further word.

And hell, yes, they were thankful they did so, as only seconds later, they had just arrived at the car – and only thanks to the superhuman speed which was given to the Breed – the whole place went up with a nasty, violent blast and a loud BOOM, leaving nothing behind, but rubble, fire and ashes.

Tegan cursed.

"Fuck, good we listened to her."

"Yeah, we'd be marshmallows if not.", Dante agreed.

Lucan nodded – but he was focused on the woman in his arms.

Her breath was shallow and her skin white as snow.

"C-cold…", she murmured, her voice merely more than a breathy whisper.

And damn, yes, she was cold!

Cold as ice in fact.

Her lips were of a trembling blue, her fingers frozen stiff, making Lucan shiver as she brushed the back of his hand when she tried to reach for his shirt for support.

She barely had her eyes open, blood – Rogue blood – soaking her hair and her clothes along with her own blood.

She coughed up a bit of blood, which got him even more worried. Had they damaged her lung?

"Let's hurry!", he said, carefully climbing in the car and on the backseats.

Dante took the seat next to him, while Tegan took the driver seat.

"Here.", Dante quickly handed him some wrapping material.

Lucan took it, ripping the plastic open with his teeth.

"Thanks."

The only thing he could do so far was trying to stop the bleeding, but he quickly noticed the bite marks weren't the only injury. She must have gotten into crossfire as a bullet had pierced her left upper arm as well. Maybe one of the snipers had tried to get the Rogue away from her, but hit her instead.

They arrived mere minutes later, as Tegan had been driving like the devil himself, and Lucan quickly carried the young woman to the medical station, where Gideon and Tess were already waiting.

Gideon clenched his teeth as he saw her, cursing, while Tess gasped. Lucan couldn't blame them. The Breedmate was looking worse for the wear.

"Fuck, Lucan, what…?"

"Don't ask, work!"

"She has bite marks at her left arm and a bullet wound, she's coughing up blood and I fear some of her ribs are broken – not even mentioning she is suffering from hypothermia.", Tess had quickly laid her healing hands on the young woman.

"Leave that to us – we will take care of her."

It was about half an hour later that Tess got out to fetch them again.

"She is stable now. – In fact, she is awake, but still feverish. I did my best, but her ribs are still bruised, my abilities…"

Dante stepped up to her, silencing her with a kiss.

"Sh, love, she will be fine and you did well, I am certain of that."

She smiled softly,

"Thanks, Dante."

Gideon stepped up behind Tess and Lucan stood up.

"Anything about who she is?"

"Apart from her being a Breedmate? – Actually yes. She had a license and an ID on her and her clothes gave away quite a bit."

He waved them in and pointed at a pile of blood stained clothes, while Tess excused herself.

They were all black, thick and surprisingly many layers – not even mentioning a belt with a gun holster, a knife, bullets, a lock-picker set, a radio and a one-ear-headset – and a badge.

"'MI6 Captain'?", Tegan read out from the bulletproof waistcoat.

"Yeah. – Operating Captain Milena Kučera, to be precise.", Gideon said.

"MI6 is the British version of the Secret Service. What is the MI6 doing in Boston?", Lucan asked.

"I don't know, but one more thing, Lucan. This girl… She was well put up for the cold, Two scarves, beanie under her baseball cap, gloves and so on, The layers were enough to keep her warm for hours – in ALASKA. She could have accompanied Kade."

"So you say she was out there for… How long?"

"At least one day to freeze her like that, more likely two."

"But that is impossible, she couldn't have… She must have been sleeping outside then!", Dante objected.

"She wasn't sleeping.", Tegan said, after shortly touching the young woman's arm.

"But she was out there."

"You are saying she was out in the cold for two full-blown days?"

"Quite so, yes."

"…Could you stop yelling, Sir? My head is trying to kill me without you being so loud already."

Lucan blinked and turned towards the young woman, along with Tegan and Dante.

Now that all of the layers had vanished and only the hospital gown remained, they could what she was really looking like. Lucan had thought that she was light when he had picked her up already.

But this was freakish.

She wasn't anorexic, nowhere near that. But damn, this wasn't normal. They could clearly see tendons and veins, muscles moving under her skin – and strong muscles.

That woman really was a captain. Not the usual one, like they were common among humans right now, those, who would just stand there and shout commands. No, she was a chip of the old block, one who barged in to help when things got ugly and help was required.

"Sorry, Miss.", Lucan said apologetically.

She shook her head.

"No… It's fine. – You saved me after all. I should be grateful, bit complaining."

"Well, you saved us right after."

Her laughter was cold, somehow bitter.

"By telling you about the explosives? That was almost too late already."

"Maybe, still saved our butts."

"Hm."

A short silence occurred.

"Just one thing… I was wondering… How did you know? None of us saw the explosives or smelled them.", Lucan looked at her quizzically.

She shifted a bit, massaging her temples, with her hands.

"I… See through things."

"Not in the usual way, I assume."

"No – causing your migraine, eh?", Tegan asked.

She stared at him, shortly interrupting to massage her temples.

"What? How do you…?"

"Why do you carry such hardware?", he counter questioned, holding up the knife from her belt.

And he was right. It was titanium steel. A Rogue eating blade.

"I… Deliberately seem to attract those… THINGS. – They are not human, are they? As soon as I hit them seriously with a weapon made of this material, they would become ash, while they did not even care about other weapons. – Took me a while to figure that out, even with my strange sixth sense."

"Your gift, I'd say."

"What?"

"You are a Breedmate.", Tegan said bluntly.

"A WHAT?"

Tegan snorted impatiently.

"Where is her mark, Gideon?"

"I'm afraid she could hardly notice it. – She has a scar right over it, almost covering it up. – Left side of her neck."

God damn hell, yes, scars.

None of them could quite believe the crazy amount of scars covering the body of the young woman. Short ones, long ones, big and small, nasty and clean ones, round ones, square ones.

Her left arm was a display of at least six scars, the back of her right hand showing scarred knuckles, under her left eye, over her whole cheek, a long, nasty one, showing all too clearly that she didn't like sitting at home doing nothing. Her skin was thick and she had various blood blisters and bruises at her hands, indicating she was doing a lot with me – a lot of fighting.

"What kind of mark?"

"A drop of blood falling into a crescent moon.", Gideon explained, handing her a small mirror.

She took it, quickly checking her neck.

"You are right… It really looks like it… But what does that mean?"

"That you are a Breedmate."

She snorted.

"Well, I figured that much! But what Breed?"

"THE Breed. Our Breed. – Long story short: Vampires."

She stared at him.

"Vampires. Seriously. Vampires. – What the bloody hell do you think? That I am STUPID? Nobody believes in vampires anymore!"

Tegan growled.

"Well, you better start believing!"

Smelling the blood, inhaling the scent coming from her bloodstained clothes, his fangs grew and his eyes went amber, glowing furiously, the pupils mere slits.

"What…?"

It made her jump. Quicker and stronger than they had thought. She was out of bed and on her feet faster than they had expected, grabbing her knife and holding it in front of herself protectively, eyes widened in fear, pupils dilated, muscles contracted, ready to fight. Lucan could hear her heart beating rapidly in her chest, brutally pounding against her still bruised ribs.

He carefully took a step in her direction.

"Hey, we…"

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"

She pointed her knife in his direction, holding it with both hands. - Damn, she was shaking so much!

Carefully, one tiny step after another, the stepped back, backed away from them, leaving the room, the knife still outstretched in their direction.

"Don't… Don't come near me! You monsters!"

The knife was shaking in her trembling hand and they knew she was no match for them – hell, she was only a human female! – Alright, she was a Breedmate. But she was human!

But… They didn't want to hurt her. That wouldn't help her to trust them at all, Lucan didn't need a degree in psychology for that.

"Listen…"

But Gideon had barely begun that sentence – when she glanced behind herself – and spun around, making a dash for it. – And hell, she was fast! – Alright, still no match for a vampire, but running after her…

"DANTE!"

Obviously the man didn't think about that any further – Gideon ran after him, Lucan and Tegan following – not one of them at full speed, nowhere near that.

"Fuck! – Her ribs are not going to make it like that, they are bruised! – Not to speak about her blood loss and her fever.", he cursed.

"She can't get far this way, can she? Being hurt and everything?", Dante asked.

"She's scared, I wouldn't count on that – Tegan triggered a fight-or-flight response."

Lucan swore under his breath.

"You know we are hunting her down like prey?"

God damn this was almost as bad the blood clubs! – At least she must be feeling like the poor women there.

Lucan wasn't able to think about that any further as the current happenings required his full attention.

They had reached the lift – or, well: The young Captain had reached the lift.

"It's locked, right?"

"Yes, she… - What the hell?"

The lift door opened, much to their surprise – and shock. But Gideon cursed even more when he saw why that was.

Nikolai.

The warrior had just returned from a patrol – and she had bumped into him, while she had been glancing backwards at them.

"Oh? What do we have here?"

"Niko…"

She backed away from him a tiny bit, only to find Gideon, Lucan, Tegan and Dante at her back – and she decided to take the way with less 'enemies'.

"Get away!", she barked at Nikolai, her voice quivering, the knife pointing at his chest.

"What? – Lady that's a dangerous toy you are having there!"

He grabbed the wrist with the knife – but he didn't expect her to drop it in her other hand the moment he tried to free it from her grip. – Not to mention she would thrust it in his stomach at full tilt.

Even with his protection vest, he gasped – bloody hell, what was she DOING there? – But she didn't escape him now. Not when he was angry. Within the blink of an eye he had her wrists – both this time – banged against the wall, facing the wall.

The knife was still in her hands and she refused to let go off it, still fighting, still kicking with her feet, growling, baring her teeth, fear ruling her actions.

"Niko! Don't go too hard on her!", Gideon warned him, as Niko tightened his grip around her wrists and they could hear bones objecting, cracking.

"Gid, she tried to STAB me!"

The knife fell down and she winced in pain.

"Let me go…!", she begged.

Tegan stepped forward, touching her gently – the amber had vanished from his eyes and his fangs were normal again – luckily, she would have screamed at him if not. And he would not have blamed her.

But right now he could feel how scared she was – and how much that did no good to her health. She was in pain and the only reason she was still standing was her adrenaline shoot – and Niko tying her to the wall.

"We don't want to hurt you, okay? It's… All fine."

And that made her stare at him.

"What?"

Her voice was silent, breathy now, confusion in her eyes.

"It's all right, it's okay, we don't want to hurt y– wait, why…"

Tears started to fill her eyes and he was about to ask why – when a flash of emotions hit him, coming from her. Memories. Pain, loneliness… And then hope. A kind word, shelter.

~"It's all fine, it's all right, it's okay now… Don't worry, you are safe…"~

And then pain again. Numbing pain and heart-aching loss.

"Niko, let her go."

A moment later Tegan found himself kneeling on the floor next to a sobbing and crying young Breedmate.


	2. For Queen and Country

A trip top the past

For Queen and country

Tegan tried to get her up again – not that that would have a problem for him normally, but she didn't want him to help her – to touch her even – and she drew back from his hand, shaking her head violently – and then holding it, wincing.

"What is wrong?"

The voice was soft, still strong – and owned by another Breedmate – Gideon's mate.

"Savannah!"

But Savannah gave Gideon just a short look, lovingly, yes, but short, because her eyes were fixed on the young woman on the floor. She was a pitiful picture, hurt, scared – and so fragile, with bare-feet and only wearing a hospital gown and various bandages. Savannah stepped up to her, softly touching her shoulder. This time she didn't flinch, but looked up.

Savannah looked in the young Breedmate's face, seeing tear-filled, green eyes in a pale white face, a nasty scar under her left eye – and a pain so deep it was intoxicating, mixed with sheer panic.

The woman feared this place – more precisely the men here. And she did so much, she tried to get on her feet again without wanting any help, eying the knife that had fallen on the floor, but she didn't dare to get it.

"There, there… Sh…"

She carefully laid her arm around the woman's shoulders to stabilize her and give her some security. Her look was disapproving when she passed by, guiding the Breedmate to the women's working room and shut the door close.

Gideon sighed.

"That could have worked better."

But Tegan shook his head, getting up again, dusting off his trousers.

"Not really. According to her memories the situation was called for as soon as she would meet members of the Breed. I am curious what happened though. Can't have been nice – and not long ago."

"What did you feel?", Lucan asked.

Tegan's ability to know about a person's feelings as soon as he touched them had come in handy more than once. And right now it would be the key again, at least as far as Lucan could judge that right now.

"She lost someone. Someone dear. Looked like her father, by his age and how they interacted in her memory. – And by a Rogue."

Lucan cursed. No wonder she had been scared like hell when Tegan had showed her what he was – what THEY were.

Niko looked at them slightly puzzled.

"What happened here anyway?"

"We found her on a patrol. - Gideon, can you find out more about her? You have her occupation and her name after all."

"Not sure if that is her real name, but I can try. – And we better don't get near her so soon again, not until she chooses that herself."

"We can't avoid her all the time, Gid."

Gideon nodded.

"I know, but at least… Be a bit careful around her, okay? – The others need to know too, of course."

Lucan sighed.

"We have to meet up to inform them we have a guest anyway – and Gideon? Can you cover up what happened at the warehouse? For the MI6 especially."

"Sure."

They were not alone in the women's working room, but the eyes they met were friendly – a little confused, some of them, but friendly.

Savannah made her sit down on a chair, while she got a few cups and a kettle, shortly talking to a woman with long, blond-red hair.

Another, a petite woman with elfish short, bright blond hair and light amethyst eyes came near the young woman, seating herself on a chair next to her. She smiled softly.

"Hello, dear. Our men gave you a bit of a rough greeting, hm?"

She nodded insecurely.

The blond woman's smile widened.

"Don't be scared, it's okay, you are safe here. – I am Elise."

The woman with the blond-red hair came back with a blanket and carefully put around the shivering Breedmate's shoulders and smiled.

"My name is Gabrielle, but most call me Gaby. – What's your name?"

She bit her lip, still looking around a bit hectically.

"Milena…", she whispered silently.

"Welcome here, Milena!", the woman who they had called Savannah said heartily and put down a cup in front of her.

"I hope you like hot chocolate?"

Milena nodded thankfully.

"Yes, thank you."

She took little, careful sips.

"What… Where am I?"

"You are at the headquarter of the Order, still in Boston, but quite a few hundred meters under the surface.", Gaby explained.

"'The Order'?"

"How much do you know, Milena?", Elise asked, watching her seriously.

"I… I am a Breedmate and they…"

She glanced to the door.

"They are members of the Breed, yes. – You had experiences with other Breed members before, hm?"

Milena nodded silently, clutching the cup in her hands.

She had something different to think about still… When Tegan had touched her, it had felt like he would suck some of her memories, some of her fears out – or not out… Not sucked out. But… Dragged out and exposed to the light of day – at least for Tegan.

She placed the cup on the table again and took her hand to her mouth absentmindedly.

"Alright, Milena Kučera is her real name indeed. The whole ID is real – and so is this here."

Gideon waved Lucan and Tegan over, showing them digital files – medical reports.

The two Gen One vampires looked at the files – and their eyes widened.

They were listed there. Her scars. Every single one. Every broken bone, every bruise her body had ever been bearing. And they were numerous.

Then Tegan glanced at one special file. – And sucked the air in with a hiss.

"Fuck, they are…Lucan, look at that!"

Lucan did as Tegan had told him – and hissed as well. The reports started with the pictured of a little girl in a white dress. – Or what had been a white dress. It was stained with blood and dirt, the pale body of the child – she must have been nine back then, her communion – was bruised and bloody, her eyes big and terrified, screaming a silent scream of horror.

He looked at the date. September 2001. Fuck. That meant…

"Gideon, how old is she EXACTLY?"

"Twenty yesterday."

He cursed, even though he had – if he was honest – assumed and almost known that already.

"The reports! Are they all from her being IN SERVICE?"

Gideon shook his head.

"She wasn't in service back then, but she snugged out a lot – her parents died when she was nine – you have seen the picture. An MI6 Agent took her under his wing, he had saved her and she was clinging to him like mad. – Same man died in service a week ago."

Lucan sighed.

"So you say she kind of lost her 'father' a second time.", Tegan said.

Gideon nodded.

"…And one more thing.", he pulled out the medical report he had written himself, handing it to them.

Lucan flipped the map open and scanned the writing quickly, then looking at the pictures – and clenched his teeth.

"Gid, are these, what I think they are?"

He pointed at the pictures of her hands and her wrist. The back of her hands were red, as her index fingers were and the inner side of her wrists and her knuckles. They had noticed that before, when she had run. But only shortly – and here on the pictures the marks causing the reddening were still visible. Double crescents, always same size, sharp enough to hurt some smaller veins and redden the skin, cause small bleedings underneath the skin, blunt, human teeth, biting, again and again.

"She is biting herself. According to the number of bites and how deep they go she is accustomed to that, so for a long time already."


	3. Headstrong

Headstrong

Tegan looked at the pictures with growing disbelief. He knew these kind of double crescents. He knew the exact injuries, the self-caused ones – but that woman – if she was even still alive – couldn't be this one. The Breedmate he was remembering had been born over 500 years ago. – He clenched his teeth at the thought of her being dead – he was on his best way of insulting the honor of a Breed member he had met back then. A member of the Breed who had pledged his allegiance to this woman, even without being her Mate, protecting her with all what was given to him, risking everything for her – maybe, after all, she had become his Mate.

Lucan looked at Tegan as the vampire with the tawny hair clenched the photograph with his big hands.

"What's wrong, Tegan?"

Tegan hissed. God damn it, she even looked like her a bit.

"I know these injuries. – But that can't be. The woman I am talking about was born over 500 years ago – and she was a Breedmate."

Lucan nodded.

Tegan was right that couldn't be. Breedmates, once joined with their Mate could, due to a genetic defect, only give birth to sons – and if she wasn't joined with a vampire, she would be dead for sure. No human could live that long – and the other possibility that she had betrayed her Mate, was so extremely unlikely and out of any honorable discussion, he didn't consider it for even one second.

"Still, T, who are you talking about?"

Gideon asked, curiously.

"… Can't remember her name."

It was a lie. He could recall her name very well, for heaven's sake, every man would have been recalling her name after what he had helped her with – giving birth to her son. But truth was he wasn't too keen on the idea about finding out if his old friend had managed. Tegan had left him in the city with his personal war and his personal hell, protecting a woman who didn't know what she was, loving her with all his heart, but being too honorable to say anything about it, since she was still waiting for her husband who had gone missing – who may not even know about his son. – A man who had left her days after the child had been conceived.

Lucan frowned at him, but didn't say a word. The other Gen One vampire was like a brother to him and they knew each other inside out – well, they hadn't been so friendly with each other all the time.

Lucan had killed Tegan's Breedmate, Sorcha.

Not because he had been cruel. But because she hadn't been herself anymore.

Sorcha had been kidnapped by the Rogues, raped, all life sucked out of her – and send back then, as an empty body without a soul, a minion under the control of a much more powerful vampire, the leader of the Rogues.

Tegan hadn't been willing to accept his loss and had given Sorcha his blood, had drunken her blood, telling himself if she had enough of his blood in her system, she would come back. But she didn't. She couldn't.

And he had crossed the border to Bloodlust.

If it hadn't been for Lucan, Tegan would have turned Rogue, a slave to his thirst for blood, a junkie, feeding of humans remorselessly, endangering the whole Breed.

No, he was in Lucan's debt. He had saved him and he had shown Sorcha more mercy than he had been able to himself.

Just half a year ago he had finally found Elise, his Breedmate, the woman who had put his torture to an end. And a good one.

Gideon sighed.

"Well, can't be helped then, just – "

He interrupted himself when his cell started ringing and he picked up, his expression worried.  
>"Savannah, what's wrong?"<p>

The call was short and Gideon cursed, jumping to his computers, checking the security cameras with quick glances.

"Gid, what's…"

"Our guest decided to wander off that's wrong!"

Milena knew she didn't have much time. Whatever all this meant, she wasn't going to stay here. Not with those people who were just as dangerous as the ones, she was tracking down. She wasn't so foolish to not believe what the women had told her or to question the reality of what she had seen the men doing. Her gift was preventing her from that. They hadn't been lying. But they would not hold her captive here, not while she could still walk and fight.

Her bare feet were fast; her steps steady as she walked back to the medical station, reclaiming what she could still use of her equipment, raiding the cupboards for the rest. She was fully dressed in her "damaged-but-better-than-nothing" bullet-proof uniform again quickly, reattaching her belt around her hips when she accidently looked into a mirror.

Her eyes widened as she saw her long, blond hair, blood sticking the lower strands together – horror gripped her as she was taken back to a place filled with blood and pain, a place she had left only a week ago. With her teeth clenched, she looked around – and found a scalpel.

Determinedly she bunched the bloody hair to a pony tail – and cut it off with only a few resolute cuts of the scalpel.

She threw it away, leaving the hair on the ground, knowing she would not have the time to clean up behind herself – but there was still one thing keeping her from leaving this place. She needed weapons. Her knife was lost, surely one of the warriors had picked it up from the floors, her gun and her rifle were gone – but this place here was screaming military base. And she had seen a floor map with the room, so she was now heading into the direction of her room of interest.

The Training and Weapon room.

Gideon could not believe his eyes when he spotted her in the Training and Weapon Room – and he cursed again, unusually for the usually calm and collected British vampire.

Lucan growled when he saw her as well.

"Get going!"

Milena was quick, her movements efficient as she grabbed a few of the titanium blades, attaching them to her belt, fastening a Beretta 92 FS with modified bullets, which contained titanium powder in the warheads, at her hip – and releasing the security catch of a second, as she heard the noise of heavy feet quickly coming nearer.

The door flew open – and the tall, massive man standing in the doorway was the one who had hold her back once already. Nikolai.

This time he was standing there more calmly, more collected and wary, watchful – he had felt her knife once already, he would not be so stupid to let her hurt him a second time – and she wasn't planning on doing so when he simply let her go. – Just that wasn't likely to happen.

Nikolai looked at her calmly and waited. – Milena pointed the gun at him.

"Move it.", she said, her voice clear and calm, but commanding somehow too.

The voice of a leader.

But Niko stood unmoving like a rock.

"I won't."

"I will shoot at you then."

He laughed and it sounded hard.

"Oh, will you?"

BANG!

The sound of the fired gun was still audible in the hallways in which Tegan, Gideon and Lucan were running, followed by the sound of a growling warrior and the smell of blood.

When they arrived at the Training and Weapon room, they found Milena in Niko's hands again – or not so much his hands, actually.

He was sitting on her legs, holding her on the floor, her face pushed down to the floor, hands tied together at her back – and, Jesus Christ, she was still wriggling, still fuming and fighting. Blood was dripping from Niko's left shoulder, soaking his shirt, darkening the black cloth further.

She hissed at them, her head framed with short, spiky and wild hair now, messy, her eyes glowing furiously.

Tegan growled.

"Seems we can't go easy on you, Captain, can we?"

"Niko, be careful with her ribs, they are bruised. – How's your shoulder?"

Gideon stepped up to them.

"She is a beast, guys. Just look at her!", Niko answered grimly.

And they did.

Even captured again, it was impressing what she had managed to do in such a short time – and it got them worried.

She snarled.

"Let me go…!"

Lucan let himself down to one knee next to her to look her in the eye.

"What do you want to do outside here, woman? – Do you want your own vendetta? That's suicide."

"Do I look like I am scared about dying in a fight?", she counter questioned.

Before Lucan could answer, Tegan did.

"No. You don't mind dying as long as you can take enough Rogues with you."

"Exactly so."

"Well, what shall we do with you then?"

"Take me with you."


	4. Thirst

Thirst

It was a pitch black night and loud music was blasting through the streets in the North End of Boston, coming from the '_La Notte'_, a night club famous for both kinds, humans and members of the Breed – and Rogue activities.

The warrior was standing there silently, watchful and patient. He had time. Even if he was hungry for a fight – but no one would bring him to go into that club – he knew himself too well for doing such a thing.

He was humming silently while waiting, nearly inaudible and even if audible, it would only reveal one more he wasn't from around here. Not even close.

"_Jungfrun hon skulle åt stugan gå, Linden darrar i lunden, Så tog hon den vägen åt skogen blå, Ty hon var vid älskogen bunden - Och när som hon kom till skogen blå, Linden darrar i lunden, Där mötte henne en ulv så grå, Ty hon var vid älskogen bunden - Kära ulver du bit inte mig, Dig vill jag giva min silversärk, Silversärk jag passar ej på, Ditt unga liv och blod måst gå…"_

He interrupted himself when he heard a loud roar, metal clashing against brick walls – and the smell of blood hit him like a train.

Immediately his fangs grew long and sharp, his formerly blue eyes were now of a glowing yellow and his dermaglyphs were pulsating in the colors of a fight.

The battle noise in the dark alleyway next to the '_La Notte' _was hopefully going by unnoticed by the humans – but hell, he was not.

The gun scabbard over his back was clearly not containing a rifle – a long handle was sticking out of it – and as he drew it out in the dark, hopefully out of sight of most humans, he brought a two-handed, Celtic broadsword to the dim light of the faint lantern in the alley.

He heard these bastards, he heard them fighting – and he SAW them.

Three men – no, three members of the Breed, engaged in a deathly fight with… JESUS CHRIST!

That weren't only two or three Rogues. They were over ten.

Bloody hell, he had heard about the Rogue problem they had in Boston – but whoever was responsible for THIS… He must be outstandingly mad.

And somebody had to be responsible for that. Nobody went Rogue so easily – and so young already.

None of them was looking older than bloody 17!

The three warriors fighting were young too – Generations after him, not as strong as him, not as experienced – but still doing well – just not well enough.

One of them was in close combat with two of the bastards – a third approaching from behind.

"KADE!"

The yell from one of the other warriors was deafening and the man turned quickly – just to look in the horror-stricken face of a Rogue – the pointy end of a sword rammed through his back sticking out of his chest.

"Bastard…!"

The growl from his throat was dark and deathly, the word already spoken with accent, clearly not American – not only the Rogues stared at him, the warriors did too, just he did not hesitate a second, did not care about the looks, just took his advantage and smoked another Rogue – before they came back to their senses just a second later, luckily alongside with the warriors.

Just he hadn't been the only one with the element of surprise – he snarled angrily when he caught a Rogue at the last moment, elbowing him away – and nothing but his gift preventing him from severe damage by the fangs. As for his gift…

It was boiling in his blood, heavy as lead, slowing him down and burning up his last reserves, thirst painfully pulling at his stomach, the cramp only seconds away now – he knew it – and fought it, keeping up the fight – but it was no use, his reflexes were slowed down – and so the next severe attack hit him like a train, breaking through the already fragile, invisible physic shield his gift had formed for him – and he was smashed against the wall.

He growled, gasped in pain, dropping his sword – the Rogue was at his throat, the fangs deeply sunken in his flesh, ripping skin out, tearing the veins open – he was breathing heavily, his sight was blurred already by the blood loss – only a little bit of blood, only a bit blood lost, but…

With a last, desperate move, he drew one of the daggers from his belt – and rammed it in the Rogues throat to the hilt.

He must have lost a few seconds, must have blacked out for a short while – as when he blinked again, he was on the tarmac, on his knees, trembling, gasping in pain barely able to even only hold himself up with his shaking arm, the other grasping his cramping stomach.

He couldn't see even only one thing clear, all was blurry and he knew… If nobody helped him now… This was the bloody, disgraceful end of him.

613 years of existence ended by a pack of Rogues in a dirty back alley in Boston.

"Hey! Hey, hang in there!"

The words were muffled to his ears, but he felt hands touching his shoulders, helping him, leaning him against the wall, a hand holding the huge wound at his throat closed as much as possible.

"Need… Blood…", he mumbled, coughed, breathy.

"Damn hell, yes! – Kade!"

All he caught were blurry glimpses of a world fading to his eyes – until the iron scent touched his tongue, the smell of the hemoglobin tickled his nose, a wrist opened already and brought to his mouth – but he was almost too weak to suck on it. He only managed a few, weak gulps, most of the blood running down uselessly, lost forever, not even enough to heal the wound at his throat properly, just to stop the worst.

"Gideon! – Yes, it's Rio, listen, we just smoked a damn pack of about 15 Rogues – Yes, I KNOW! – We got help, don't know who, but, fuck, Gid, these glyphs…! Think he is a Gen One – Gid, I've never seen someone needing blood more urgently! – No, DEFINETLY not from the Havens, he carries a bloody two-handed titanium broadsword!"

Tegan cursed when he heard the description of the warrior together with Lucan over Gideon's speakers in the tech lab – Jesus Christ, he KNEW the warrior!

"Get him here and just don't catch him a woman, if he needs blood, Rio, he is going to push her away, damn his pride!"

He growled and cursed.

Lucan frowned.

"You heard him, do that. – And be quick, Rio, it's close to dawn already."

"So, Tegan, you know that one, right? Who is he?", Lucan asked grimly, as soon as he had ended the call.

Tegan growled silently.

"There is only one Gen One on this earth who would still wield a two-handed broadsword in public and not being caught doing it until now. His name is Mare Erikson. A Norwegian. About 100 years younger than me.", he explained shortly, not willing to say too much about the vampire.

Mare was a dangerous fighter, a devil. Tegan had only seen him fight once. – It had been like unleashing a hellish force onto hell's own demonic breed. It had caused Tegan to do something he had never done before: Asking an almost completely unknown vampire to join the Order.

And it was just not like Tegan to gossip – even though right here and right now his thoughts were running wild. A member of the Breed, a warrior like Mare, down? Even if fighting against 15 Rogues – he had seen Mare handle ten of the bastards together with him. And this had been Brock, Kade and Rio being with him too – and Mare had just barged in to help.

"What are you thinking, Tegan?"

Lucan still wasn't willing to drop the topic – even if he knew that Tegan was not one for talking about others.

"…It just seems unlikely that anyone can take him down. I've seen him fight, Lucan. He is no pushover.", he grumbled silently.

Something was seriously wrong with Mare if it was true what Rio had said – and there was no reason for Rio to lie.

"And it's not like you to praise someone who doesn't fight like the devil, we know that much, T…", Gideon said thoughtfully.

Tegan remained silent, but that was as good as a yes to what Gideon had just said.

Lucan knew he wouldn't get any further here. Not at this point. He knew Tegan well enough for that – and he saw that Tegan was pondering. And his tightened jawline and the grim look on his face didn't indicate that it was about everything being sugar and rainbows and plain boring for them – but a nagging worry about something – or, more likely in this case, someone.

Tegan's expression had already been grim, but it grew even darker when he actually saw the warrior Rio and Kade carried in. They had Mare's arms over their shoulders, while the vampire tried to walk by himself – a task almost beyond what he was capable of, more tripping over his own feet. Tegan cursed silently. Damn Mare's pride…! He was certain the Gene One had just been too proud to let them carry him – not that it would have been any different if it had been him.

He didn't hesitate a second to assist them or more likely pushing Brock aside who had wanted to help – and had almost gone down on his knees due to the pain which was radiating from Mare.

Sometimes Brock's gift to suck the pain from somebody else and to deal with it himself was helpful – but sometimes the pain was just too gravely. And the pain a Gene One could endure was no match to the tolerance level of pain of a Gene Four.

Tegan didn't say a word when he carried Mare to the medical station alone – Kade and Rio had given up keeping up with his speed when he had almost been running down the hallways. He had felt the pain too, was still feeling it – for Christ's sake it was the only reason why Mare still hadn't recognized him. The vampire was much too occupied trying to keep an almost stable stand and steady walk – and now he failed. Tegan had just been too fast for him in that state and he had picked him up, carried him to the next bed.

"Jesus Christ, what have you done, Mare…?"

He was just muttering, swearing under his breath – Mare was too light for his 1,98 m – a thing Tegan had already known and seen when they had met 450 years ago. But that it was still a problem didn't calm him down. Meeting him again and so unexpectedly was quite a surprise already – but the WAY of meeting him again… Seriously, he would have preferred Mare strolling by and knocking against the doors for a little chat – even though Tegan was no one for chit-chat.

"What did you get yourself into, eh?"

Gideon joined his muttered curses, peeling away the blood-soaked shirt to get to the wounds easier. The wound at Mare's throat was still bleeding, even after he had received blood – obviously that hadn't been enough. And none of the two, neither Gideon nor Tegan, needed to touch Mare to feel the heat he was throwing off. That was most certainly one of the major reasons why it hadn't been enough blood. It was burning up instantly.

Gideon gave him quite some injections, painkiller, antipyretic medication and antibiotic, disinfected the wounds he had, bandaged them. – But all that did not change a thing about him needing blood. And a lot of it.

"He needs to hunt. Just he can't in this state – can you call Lucan to tell our next patrol to get some blood from the hospitals?", Gideon asked.

It was not like he had no blood here – but not enough for this – and he had used up quite a lot for Milena already.

"Do you think he will make it until tomorrow? Dawn is breaking, there is no patrol out anymore."

Tegan was still cursing, looking at the vampire lying there – he knew that state from own experience.

"I am not certain about that, but I will try my best – he will have to manage, we can't send anybody out to bright daylight that's a suicide mission."

Tegan didn't say a word, but put his wrist to his fangs, opening the vein.

"Tegan?"

Gideon stared at him with disbelief.

"Time to return a favor.", he grumbled, holding the bloody wrist to Mare's lips.


	5. A glimpse back

A glimpse back

Mare's fangs sank deep into Tegan' s wrist, the hunger he felt was raw and honest, it was a need he couldn't fight as he drew quite deeply from Tegan's vein, taking hectic gulps, coughing as it was too much to manage in one gulp.

Tegan held him up, supporting Mare's head like people do with a baby's head.

"Take it slow, I won't run."

He could feel Mare didn't recognize him at the moment that he was in fact close to panic about who he was drinking from right now, wanting to stop, not to take too much, but unable to stop right now, the need burning too strong.

"Don't worry, I am fine. Just drink. I will stop you, if you take too much."

All the words where just whispers, silent growls, assurance usually given to a child or a lover – they were neither of it. But old battle comrades.

It hadn't been empty words when Tegan had said he was returning a favor. Mare had given him his blood when he had needed it to stay alive after he had been close to starving himself, collapsing on the floor next to…

"Te…gan…?"

It was a weak coughing, the usually deep baritone just a breathy whisper.

Tegan looked into Mare's half closed eyes grimly, the pupils still slits, his eyes yellow.

"Welcome back to the living, man."

Mare stared at him.

"What… The… I am… - Where am I?", he tried to focus a point, though not quite successfully, but he kept trying.

At the moment he concentrated on Tegan's gem green eyes – God, it was a déjà-vu turned upside down!

"Medical station of the Order, 200 meters under the surface, Boston. – Jesus, where have you been?"

"…All around Scandinavia, Northern Europe – Not like I haven't been looking for you.", Mare replied.

It sounded quite bitter.

"…Could have told me you are alive, Tegan. I was wondering if you are still roaming around for quite… Some time."

It did not only sound bitter. It sounded angry. It was a barely veiled subtext, a shivering in his voice, a glint in his still partly yellow eyes when he looked at Tegan.

Tegan could tell he was thankful – but something had happened to the man he had left 450 years ago in Trondheim – something that turned the already sarcastic man into a really bitter being.

"You could have told me, too."

Mare snorted at the answer.

"It's not like you left your number or your address – Heaven's sake, you did not even leave your full NAME!"

He was close to jump out of bed, already stemming himself up angrily, ignoring the pain his dermaglyphs were still showing.

Tegan didn't hold him back and Mare stood up – just it didn't work. At least not for long.

He was standing for a second or two maybe, before he had to grasp a table counter for support, the blood loss making him go dizzy in his head, blurring his sight further.

"Take it easy, you were worse for the wear when you came here – or should I say 'carried' here?", Tegan said drily.

"T, don't provoke him, 'kay?"

Gideon's warning voice came to Tegan's ears – but he knew how far he could go here. He knew Mare well enough for that. At least he had known back in Trondheim.

Mare however noticed Gideon just now – and the fact he was half-way naked.

"Who are you?", he asked, a wary tone in his voice.

"Gideon – the doctor, the technical genius here – pleased to meet you."

Gideon stretched out his hand. Mare took it slowly.

"Mare Erikson – just a warrior. – Freelancer, so to speak."

Gideon grinned.

"Working alone and not getting paid for it, hm? – Still, these hands are not used for killing only, are they?"

Something in his voice made Mare pull his hand back hectically – it was no real question. It was statement.

"…I don't know what you are talking about, neither what you are implying."

Tegan looked at him. The warrior was clearly uneasy, the pause a little too long.

~What are you trying to hide?~

He tried to touch Mare as if by coincidence – but Mare knew his gift – and his hand got blocked by the thin, physical, yet invisible shield. Tegan hissed.

"Stop that, Mare!"

"I am not going to let you read me, Tegan! Not after what happened!"

Mare was weak on his feet, unsteady, but it didn't affect his anger – or the hurt. No matter how hard he tried, Tegan could see through all his anger without even touching him. Mare couldn't hide the pained look in his blue eyes.

"Okay, alright, I won't. Just don't use your gift like that, you know how much blood it's using up."

It was a calm warning, an advice, showing he cared about him, he was worried.

Just that was what really set Mare off. He laughed. Hard, bitter and joyless.

"Oh, that's just priceless! THAT coming from YOU! – Fucking, bloody hell, Tegan! You don't even have a CLUE, do you? What happened? "

He was shaking.

Whether out of pain or anger was hard to say, but Tegan assumed it was a mixture of both – just that the pain wasn't only physical – but psychic.

"No. No, I don't.", he said silently, calmly.

He knew yelling back now; taking the invitation to a serious quarrel would take the situation to a level none of them would be able to control anymore.

From the corner of his eye he saw Gideon was looking at Mare watchfully, one hand hovering over a keyboard, ready to call for help in an instance. The warrior was simply careful – he knew a Gen One was not to be dealt with easily – not even Tegan was fully sure whether he could handle Mare – even in his current condition. He was steaming with anger and that pretty much ruled out everything else – he knew that from his own experience. – Of course, yes, Tegan was able to hold Mare down. But he would have to hurt him. And that was not what he intended to do.

"She died, Tegan! She… Fuck, no she didn't just DIE – she was MURDERED!"

He clenched his teeth, his jawline tightened, his dermaglyphs vibrant on his bare chest, giving away his real feelings.

"I was away, I wasn't THERE, I just… I was hunting Rogues and I failed to protect her from mere MENNESKER!"

The fact Mare was partly jumping back to his mother tongue, got Tegan even more worried – he understood Norwegian quite well, even though he hadn't spoken or heard the language for a long time. But he knew Mare could speak English rather well too – that he was now too agitated to find the right words…

"They set the whole tavern on fire – the only thing… I could only get her corpse out of the flames – and do you remember her son? Do you remember little Morten Henderson?"

Tegan cursed.

"Mare, it wasn't…"

"IKKE SI DET ER IKKE MIN SKYLD!"

Mare spat the words, stepping up to Tegan, fuming, throwing off heat like a radiator, barely able to hold himself back.

Tegan stretched out a hand to touch him, to read what was lying under the surface, what Mare was unable to tell right now. It was a pure impulse – but it got Mare to hiss at him, his fangs grew long and sharp again, his yellow eyes with the slit pupils where back and he bared his fangs at Tegan, growling lowly – one more step…

"WAG DET!"

So far none of the Order needed to be able to speak Norwegian to get that hell was about to break loose as soon as someone pushed Mare any further – he was a loose cannon.

Mare stepped back, inching away from Tegan, his shield… - Oh, Christ!

"Forsiktig, Mare, jeg kan se ditt skjold!"

Mare's shield… It was always invisible – except for times when he couldn't control it anymore, when strong emotions were about to take over control and Mare was nothing more but a puppet on a string, completely at the mercy of the power he possessed. – Just that in these moments… It wasn't Mare who possessed the powers. It were the powers who possessed Mare.

The vampire was shivering, trembling, barely able to hold himself up any longer – he was in no condition for the stress he was putting himself in – not even talking about the fight which was only one wrong step away.

Tegan knew there was more to his story, Mare had to tell more – but he would not push him now, he couldn't risk Mare snapping – he had once seen him go all berserker – and quite literally that.

When they had met Mare had been about to throw himself into a fight against twenty Rogues all alone. – And after fighting with him, Tegan was sure he would have made it. Not without severe injuries and a condition that would have come close to being fatal – but he would have killed every single bastard.

He could see him fighting it – and being close to fail, shivering violently, going down on his knees – and Tegan kneeled down next to him.

"Du kan gjøre det! Helin visste det. Hun stolte på deg."

Maybe it had been the wrong thing to say. As soon as Tegan had said that Helin had trusted him, Mare began too shiver even more – the shield was wearing off, yes, but…

"Hennes eneste feilen...", Mare whispered, his voice pained and weak.

~"Her only mistake…"~


	6. Hitting the ground

Hitting the ground

"For Christ's sake, Tegan! I know you are not the one for gossiping, but literally EVERYONE in the Order could hear that warrior friend of yours yelling! I even had Mira knocking at my door asking if I let the devil loose in here!"

Lucan was fuming. He himself had understood everything Mare had been yelling, for Lucan had been born in Sweden, he knew the language – as the good old version of Norwegian was pretty close to Swedish and Lucan spoke both languages fluently. It had not calmed him down at any rate.

"Who IS he?!"

Lucan was pacing up and down in the tech lab, raking his hair with his hands, trying hard to remain as calm as possible and not to yell – but every syllable was darting out of his mouth like a bullet and every sentence was a hiss. When there was one thing the leader of the Order didn't like, it was not being in the know. Because that meant, he wasn't in control and not being in control meant he wasn't able to protect the ones at the compound. It meant he couldn't do his job.

It was already enough that they had a rebel queen, bloody MI6-Captain Breedmate on a suicidal vendetta trip who had dared to fucking SHOOT A WARRIOR IN THE SHOULDER which he hadn't been able to prevent.

Tegan knew exactly, what Lucan was thinking – he knew him long enough; there was no need for an emotional check with his gift. He just had to look at the vampire, who was trying hard not to snap.

"Luc, calm down, okay? That's not Tegan's fault, actually it's thanks to him we don't have that warrior going all berserker here.", Gideon interjected.

Lucan growled, glaring at Gideon.

"I know…!", he grumbled.

"Luc, don't beat yourself up over Niko and that MI6-Captain, she is a little devil, no one could see that coming and Niko just underestimated her, we all did that. And even now, it's no harm done, Niko is fine again, Tess saw to that and we all know about what she can do now."

Again, Gideon tried his best to calm him down – not without any success, Lucan was indeed becoming calmer, but he was a Gen One – calming down did not mean he was any less deadly – just the thing was, he was not really angry at the MI6-Captain or the warrior at the Medical Station. – Alright, he WAS angry at them. But that was no match to how angry he was at himself.

"Lucan. I'll tell you more about Mare as soon as I know more myself. I could tell you what he told me so far, but he is already fuming at me, he was completely taken aback when he saw me again – and after, well, almost five centuries. – Let's say his past and mine have certain, very similar parts. He thinks he failed to protect the Breedmate he loved. Right now he is a loose cannon, it just needs a spark to let him snap.", Tegan finally said calmly.

Lucan looked at him seriously. He knew how hard it was to lose a Breedmate from Tegan. The warrior had hit the ground so hard, he had barely been able to get up again and until Elise, he had been as cold as ice, wanting to kill Lucan with his own hands, living just to kill him one day, more repeating that to himself to not go insane, to not drown in sorrow himself.

"You mean that's not even the full story yet?"

Tegan nodded.

"I know from Trondheim that he took his father's head in revenge for his mother as you did. And when I met him, he poured his heart out to me after I read his feelings for Helin. He had protected and loved her from when she was a toddler. He just went away to look for his mother, just to find her dead and avenged her – it took him half a year – and almost his life. When he returned, Helin was married and pregnant. – She was giving birth to a son when I met him, I helped her with that, as did Mare."

Lucan cursed under his breath. Fuck it that was quite something already. And as Tegan had told him already, it was not even the full story – and even Tegan did not know the full story yet.

"And you left after THAT?"

"…Yes. Yes, I left him in an… quite unstable emotional state. Actually, I asked him to join the Order back then. But he declined, pointing at the responsibility he had with the newborn baby. He said, he was not his father, but the man was not even there when his son was born, actually Mare said Morten's father might not even know his wife was pregnant when he ran off and was never seen again – at least not until Morten was born. I don't know whether he showed up later, but I guess he didn't. Maybe he died, maybe he really just ran off, anyway, Mare was ready to rip his head off for the whole thing, even if he would have never done that, because he did not want to upset Helin in any way. – Or her son."

Milena had not seen what had happened, nor had anybody told her. But she had also heard the yelling, the screaming, noises of a very angry member of the Breed – and as always, people underestimated her gift.

She wasn't fully in the know yet, but she was not far away from that either. But right now she was following Tess again, who wanted to check on her ribs again.

Tess was carrying around her baby son, Xander, a cute, six week old baby with a few light brown strands and aquamarine blue eyes. And right now he was even cuter. Because he was soundly asleep.

"I'm fine, I have dealt with bruised ribs before…"

She was not going to be so honest to say she had been fighting with bruised ribs and an shot-through artery. – Or how she had collapsed in a colleague's arms, only surviving because he had carried her out of there to the ambulance.

Hours had passed since the yelling and it was close to three in the afternoon – a time when the warriors would usually sleep, or well, she had figured that much from the times when they were out usually. It was like working night shift.

But saying the yelling had ended? Right now she wasn't so sure about that, as a loud grumble came across the hallways, the sound emerging from the tech lab, followed by a harsh curse in Norwegian, and heavy, quick steps, a man pacing angrily obviously.

Mare's voice was a growl, a hiss, a curse, mixture of it all, but every bit of it sounded pained, nervous and angry. Tegan looked at him sternly.

"Jesus Christ, stop pacing, Mare! None of that is your fault, okay?"

Mare came to an abrupt halt, pivoting around, hissing at Tegan.

"No! It's not okay! - Fuck, Tegan! ME! Not my fault my ass! I left them behind when they needed me the most! I LIVE for killing Rogues, for PROTECTING them! - Tegan, the haven in Trondheim lies in ASHES!"

His hissing, the harsh words, everything he did - it was a rebellion against the feeling of guilt that was settling down on his shoulders like a heavy weight, almost bringing him down to his knees. And more than guilt. An excruciating pain, which felt like somebody was tearing his chest open and ripping out his heart. This haven had been the home of the only ones he had still been able to call family. His best friend and his mate – and their children. His godsons. Thore. Cassia. Jaron. And their youngest, just born 3 weeks ago… Eldar. And he hadn't heard a word from them. Not a single thing since he had seen the pictures of the destroyed haven.

Outside Tess and Milena looked at each other.

"Milena, can you take Xander? I'll get Gideon..."

The pretty, young Breedmate looked worried.

"Sure..."

Tess put the little sleeping boy in Milena's arms and dashed. Milena pulled the little one close, re-arranged the blanket around the baby boy and stepped closer to the door, looking through the glass.

Inside, Mare stopped midsentence. He was staring past Tegan at the woman with the short, wild hair, cradling a newborn baby in her arms, looking right back at him, her green-blue eyes meeting his steel blue ones.

"Mare?"

He staggered back, his hands reaching for every support he could get.

"No..."

Tegan followed Mares gaze - and cursed.

"Tegan, please tell me you are seeing them too...! Or am I starting to see ghosts while I am awake?!"

Tegan stepped up to him, blocking the sight between Mare and that damn woman with the kid, who now took in a deep breath, one hand carefully stretched out to the door handle, pushing it down.

"Stay out, woman!", Tegan hissed, a warning growl leaving his throat - a sound which would have more likely belonged to a lion.

But that was what he was, what he was doing. A powerful male member of the Breed, protecting his kith and kin. Mare was in a state, which he wished nobody to be in. He had been hunted and haunted by his memories as well, was still - seeing a woman resembling Sorcha had thrown him off his pins often enough.

Calmingly he put one hand on Mares arm, holding him still, trying to keep him from shaking more, from collapsing to his feet.

Immediately Mares pain, the feeling of guilt and a mixture of confusion and desperate hope was kicking in, rushing through his veins, making him growl lowly. Mare was at the mercy of his feelings - and his feelings hadn't much mercy left for him.

"Come, mate, come... It's all good, you aren't going crazy..."

He carefully unwrangled the desk from Mares firm grip, leading him to the next chair. Mare collapsed on it, still shaking, his eyes fixed on the spot where he had seen Milena and Xander - or in his vision Helin and baby Morten.

Tegan himself could not deny the resemblance, apart from her scars; Milena was like a copy of Helin Henderson.

"Tegan... What the hell... Was I seeing then...?", Mare whispered, a violent tremor in his voice, every syllable drenched in a centuries old pain.

"Sh... You need to calm down first, okay? It's good. Don't worry."

Hardly anyone had ever heard Tegan speaking as softly and calming as Mare did right now - and Gideon, who now yanked the door open.

"What happened?", he asked silently, approaching to the two of them carefully.

"Our guest happened; she was standing in the hallway with Xander in her arms."

Gideon looked at him seriously.

"The Breedmate you were talking about, who she reminded you of... It was his?"

The question came calmly, without any hint of an accusation - and still, Tegan felt guilty. He should have kept it in mind. But he hadn't.

"Helin. Yes."

It wasn't quite it, she hadn't been his Mate - but she had been the one - and the only in every aspect, as Tegan realized now, in almost 500 years.

He cursed silently.

"Jesus, Mare...!"

Mare looked up, realizing what Tegan had just felt through their touch. - What he probably could have guessed already anyway.

"It's... Not like you've been the womanizer either, Tegan...", he muttered in defense.

It was not like he wasn't right.


End file.
